Moscow car bomb blast kills eight

Eight people were killed and 10 injured when a car blew up near a Moscow underground station tonight.

The blast – near the Rizhskaya station in northern Moscow – came a week after two Russian passenger planes crashed simultaneously after explosions on board, killing all 90 people on board in what officials say was a Chechen terrorist attack.

The Interfax news agency said the blast took place in a car near a station in the north-east of the Russian capital and that the force of the blast shattered glass windows or doors in the station’s vestibule.

The ITAR-Tass news agency said a car blew up on a bridge near the station.

Suicide bombings blamed on Chechen rebels and their supporters have hit the capital and other parts of Russia in recent years.

In February, 41 people were killed in a rush-hour explosion on the Moscow underground that officials said was a terrorist attack. In December a female suicide bomber blew herself up outside a hotel near Red Square, killing five other people.

Chechens voted on Sunday for president of the warring republic in an election that was backed by the Kremlin as a move toward establishing stability. The election was part of the Kremlin’s strategy for trying to undermine support for the separatist insurgents who have been fighting Russian forces for nearly five years.

Criminal underworld feuds in Russia also frequently spill over into violence, including car bombings, that have killed and injured bystanders.